Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec facts for kids
The Central Pavilion with Gérard-Morisset Pavilon in the background
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| Former name |
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| Established | 5 June 1933 |
| Location | The Battlefields Park, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada |
| Type | Art museum |
| Visitors | 387,333 (2017–18) |
| Owner | Government of Quebec |
The Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec (which means National Museum of Fine Arts of Quebec), also known as MNBAQ, is an art museum in Quebec City, Canada. It is located in National Battlefields Park. The museum is made up of four buildings. Three of these buildings were built especially for the museum. One building used to be a provincial prison.
The museum first opened in 1933. It was called the Musée de la province de Québec. At first, it held art, natural science items, and old government papers. In 1962, the natural science collection was moved out. The next year, the museum changed its name to the Musée du Quebec. In 1979, the old government papers were also moved. This left the museum with only its art collection. In 2002, the museum got its current name, the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec.
The museum has over 40,000 pieces of art. These works date from the 16th century to today. Most of the art was made in Quebec or by Quebec artists. However, the museum also has art from other parts of Canada and around the world. The MNBAQ works with other museum groups in Canada.
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History of the Museum
Before the museum opened, the province of Quebec started collecting art and natural history items. The leader of Quebec, Lomer Gouin, first thought of creating a provincial art collection. He wanted to help show what the "Quebec nation" was about. However, most of the collections were gathered by the next leader, Louis-Alexandre Taschereau.
The plan officially began in March 1920. A government minister, Athanase David, announced that Quebec would buy art from local artists. A group of five judges chose the artworks. They picked pieces that showed a common rural past and new art styles from Quebec artists.
In 1922, Quebec passed a law to fund museums. But building the first museum, the Gérard-Morisset Pavilion, did not start until 1928. The museum finally opened to the public in June 1933. It first served as an art museum, a natural science museum, and a place for provincial archives.
The natural history collection was moved out in 1962. The museum was then renamed Musée du Québec. The provincial archives moved to Université Laval in 1979. This left the museum with only its art collection. In 1983, the museum officially became a provincial Crown corporation. This means it is a business owned by the government.
From 1989 to 1991, the museum updated its first building. It also added another building, the Charles Baillairgé Pavilion. This new building used to be a prison. Adding and fixing up the old prison more than doubled the museum's space. The renovated prison building created 12 new art galleries. It also made room for an auditorium, a gift shop, a restaurant, storage, and workshops. The museum's sculpture garden was finished in 1993, shortly after the Charles Baillairgé Pavilion opened.
In 2002, the museum was renamed the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec. Building the Pierre Lassonde Pavilion started in 2013. This new pavilion opened to the public in 2016.
Museum Buildings
The museum is located in Battlefield Park. It has four main buildings: the Gérard-Morisset Pavilion, the Charles Baillairgé Pavilion, the Pierre Lassonde Pavilion, and the Central Pavilion (also called the Grand Hall). Tunnels connect all these buildings underground.
Gérard-Morisset Pavilion
The Gérard-Morisset Pavilion was the first building made for the museum. Work on it began in May 1928 and finished in early 1931. Wilfrid Lacroix designed the building in a Beaux-Arts style. This style is known for being grand and classical. Joseph-Émile Brunet created the sculptures on the outside walls. The building opened in June 1933. It features white marble, wide steps, and carved ceilings. In 2018, the museum updated this pavilion. They made the viewing areas brighter and made the building fit better with the rest of the museum.
Charles Baillairgé Pavilion
The Charles Baillairgé Pavilion is the second building the museum used. It is older than the other buildings. Charles Baillairgé designed it in 1867 to be a prison. Its design was like the Auburn Correctional Facility in New York. This building held prisoners until 1970.
After the museum bought the building, it was renovated for two years starting in 1989. These changes created four art galleries inside. A part of the old jail cells was kept to show the building's past as a prison. Charles Dorval and Louis Fortin designed the renovations. They also designed the underground tunnel that connects this pavilion to the Gérard-Morisset Pavilion. To protect Battlefield Park, part of the new wing was hidden under the park's natural landscape. The museum opened this pavilion to the public in May 1991.
Central Pavilion
The Central Pavilion, also called the Grand Hall, has a glass pyramid shape. It was built during the museum's renovations from 1989 to 1991. Dorval and Fortin also designed this part. The Central Pavilion is located between the Gérard-Morisset Pavilion and the Charles Baillairgé Pavilion. It serves as the main entrance and visitor center for the museum.
Pierre Lassonde Pavilion
Construction of the Pierre Lassonde Pavilion started in 2013. It opened to the public in June 2016. This pavilion has a glass entrance from Grande Allée, leading visitors into the museum complex. The Office for Metropolitan Architecture designed this large building, which is about 14,900 square meters (160,380 square feet). Jason Long and Shohei Shigematsu were the main designers. During its construction, the museum's underground tunnels were also updated to become viewing spaces. The pavilion uses a lot of glass and steel. This design helps the museum feel more open and connected to the public. The building is next to Saint-Dominique Church.
The total cost to build this pavilion was about C$103.4 million. It has 2,741 square meters (29,500 square feet) of gallery space. It also includes a café, a courtyard, a white spiral staircase, and a gold-colored elevator. The building is named after Pierre Lassonde, who gave a lot of money to the museum. The gold color of the elevator was chosen to reflect Lassonde's work with gold.
Art Collection
As of March 2019, the museum's art collection has 40,000 works. These pieces are from 4,524 different artists. The art comes from Quebec, other parts of Canada, and around the world. It covers art from the 16th century to today. The museum's main goal is to show and protect art from Quebec from all time periods. It also aims to include international art. The museum gets its art through gifts, purchases, or by ordering directly from artists or collectors. The first artworks for the collection were bought in 1920. However, only six of those first pieces are still in the museum today.
Each building in the museum holds a different part of the collection. The Gérard-Morisset Pavilion displays historical art. The Charles Baillairgé Pavilion shows modern art. The Pierre Lassonde Pavilion features contemporary art.
Selected Works
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Unknown, Gaspard-Joseph Chaussegros de Léry, c. 1718
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Jean-Jacques Lagrenée, La Mise au tombeau, 1770
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François Beaucourt, Madame Eustache Trottier Desrivières Beaubien, née Marguerite Malhiot, 1793
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James Pattison Cockburn, The Ice Cone at Montmorency Falls. c. 1830
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Antoine Plamondon, Madame Joseph Laurin, née Marie-Louise Dalaire, 1839
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Edwin Whitefield, Montréal vu du mont Royal, 1853–54
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William Brymner, Femme en train de tisser/La Femme au métier/Woman at Work, 1885
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Charles Alexander Smith, L'Assemblée des six comtés à Saint-Charles-sur-Richelieu, en 1837, 1891
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Charles Huot, La Traversée du fleuve en hiver, c. 1902
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Henri Beau, L'arrivée de Champlain à Québec, 1903
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Henri Julien, La Chasse-galerie, 1906
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Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor-Coté, Jacques Cartier rencontre les Indiens à Stadaconé, 1535, 1907
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Helen McNicoll, À l'ombre de l'arbre/In the Shadow of the Tree, c. 1910
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Alfred Laliberté, Le Fardeau, c. 1925
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Maurice Cullen, La Fonte des neiges, 1930
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Unknown, La Construction de la porte Saint-Jean, Québec, c. 1938–39
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Armand Vaillancourt, L'Arbre de la rue Durocher, 1953–1956
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Étienne Martin, Demeure III, 1960
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Charles Daudelin, La Cavalière, 1963
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Jean-Paul Riopelle, La Victoire et le Sphinx, 1963–1965
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Claude Tousignant, Accélérateur chromatique 1967, de l'album, 1971
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Michel Goulet, Assemblée, 1987
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Bill Vazan, Event Horizon, 1989–1991
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Bernar Venet, Deux Arcs de 245,5°, 1997
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Library and Archives
The museum also has a library and archives. These focus on art from Quebec. The library has over 13,000 files about artists' lives. It also has catalogs, books, and videos about art in Canada and worldwide. To visit the library and archives, you need to make an appointment with the museum. Some of the information can be found online through CUBIQ. This is a main catalog for public libraries in Quebec.
See also
In Spanish: Museo nacional de bellas artes de Québec para niños
- List of art museums
- List of museums in Quebec
- List of national galleries
